Arthur going Global in his return home - 2007-07-02
By RICKY TREON / Star-Telegram Staff Writer
DALLAS -- When Darrell Arthur found out he was going to be a member of Team USA, he got a little scared. Not of the competition, though.
Arthur thought he'd lost his passport.
"I was pretty nervous about that until I found it," Arthur said.
After securing his passport, Arthur got excited about playing for the USA Under-19 team, which played the Chinese national team in an exhibition Sunday at SMU's Moody Coliseum.
"We were just trying to see where we are as a team," Arthur said. "We looked pretty good; we're getting our chemistry together."
The game, which Team USA won 91-75, kicked off the 2007 Global Games, which features many players who've never been in Texas, let alone Dallas.
But Sunday's contest was a home game for Arthur.
The 6-foot-9, 230-pound forward graduated from Dallas South Oak Cliff High School in 2006 and helped the Golden Bears to their second consecutive Class 4A state title.
"It was pretty fun. I had a couple of family members out there," said Arthur, who finished with six points. "It was good having the home crowd behind my back."
Arthur averaged 9.8 points and 19 minutes per game last season as a freshman at the University of Kansas, where he wears No. 00, which hasn't been worn in Lawrence, Kan., since retired NBA player Greg Ostertag played there in 1995.
Though Arthur got the loudest cheers during pregame introductions, DeAndre Jordan of Houston had a cheering section, too, complete with a sign that read "Gig-'Em DeAndre."
Jordan is heading College Station in the fall for his first season at Texas A&M.
His fans got especially excited with 2:23 left in the first half when Jordan threw down a monster two-handed dunk over China's Ding Jinhui.
"It's cool to know you have fans all over Texas," said Jordan, who finished with seven points.
The Global Games have historically featured future NBA stars, including Houston Rockets center Yao Ming, and Sunday's exhibition was no exception.
Yi Jianlian, the No. 6 overall pick of the Milwaukee Bucks in Thursday's NBA Draft, suited out in red and played most of the game.
And when it came to shutting Yi down, Jordan and Arthur played a key role.
Each had shots at guarding him in the first half, and Yi was held scoreless and was 0-for-4 from the field.
"It's a good experience going up against those types of guys," Jordan said. "You get to see where you're at and improve. He didn't really get to score on us until late."
Yi finished with 15 points, second highest on the team.
Arthur noted that playing with international rules at the Global Games is an adjustment for high school and college players, especially the shot clock.
"We've got to get used to it," Arthur said. "It's fun, though, and I'm excited."
ONLINE: globalgamesusa.com
